


Intricate Mistakes

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-08-24
Updated: 2005-08-24
Packaged: 2019-05-15 01:48:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14781302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of theWest Wing Fanfiction Central, a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in theannouncement post.





	Intricate Mistakes

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

Tite: Intricate Mistakes  
Authos: Angel  
Pairing: Josh/Sam  
R rating: I guess PG-13/R  
spoilers: None!  
Disclaimer: I wish I owned them, but I don't.  
Notes: I got this idea from looking at a picture of some of the West Wing-ers sitting on someone's doorsteps. I don't actually know anything about that episode, so... Well, anyway, I hope you like this! I was going to write the entire thing before sending it in, but I'm sort of stuck at Part III, so I'm hoping people will help me out! Feedback is always appreciated, and it might (might? of *course* it will!) help me write faster.T hanks! -Angel ^_^

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Intricate Mistakes by Angel**

Part I

  

Josh Lyman, CJ Cregg, Donna Moss, Toby Zigler,

and Sam Seaborn were all gathered on the front steps

that lead up to Josh’s apartment. It was after work-

around nine-thirty- and the five of them had decided

that, since they had gotten off early, which was a

rarity, and since it was such a nice night, they should

get together. Presently they were sitting, talking, and

drinking. Put another way, they were just taking a

moment to relax.

"Another?!" CJ asked in amazement as Sam reached

for a beer.

"That’s what... your fourth?" Toby teased.

/He must be pretty drunk if he’s teasing Sam,/

Donna, only half way finished with her first drink,

noted.

Sam just shrugged and twisted open the cap.

Silently, the Deputy of Communications gulped down the

entire drink before replacing the now-empty bottle on

the step next to him. Blinking at the numerous brown

bottles that were lined up together, Sam mumbled, "I

lost count."

CJ laughed, and Toby snorted. Josh, who was

drinking surprisingly little, simply looked down at his

friend- a couple steps below him- and frowned. Something

wasn’t right; Sam wasn’t usually like this.

His concern turned to surprise as Sam leaned

over and rested his head against Josh’s knees. Without

thinking, Josh lifted his hand to brush through his co-

worker’s dark, silky hair. However, half-way up, his

mind caught up to his body, and the thirty-eight year-

old let his hand drop.

Just as abruptly, CJ took made a little gasping

sound. As everyone, excluding Sam, turned to the leggy

red-head, she tried to pull herself together.

"You all right, CJ?" Josh inquired, looking very

worried.

"Y-yeah, I’m fine," the Press Secretary replied

shakily. After taking a deep breath, she replied with

more confidence, "I’m all right. I just... realized what

time it was. I should really get going."

Glancing at his watch, Toby quickly agreed. "I

didn’t realize that it was already ten. I’ve got to be

in at five tomorrow."

Josh smiled. "I don’t have to be into the office

until nine," he bragged.

CJ glared at him. "Well, aren’t you special?"

She spat sarcastically.

Smiling, Josh agreed, "I am."

"Aw," Donna cooed, stopping CJ from responding

to the Deputy Chief of Staff. When everyone turned to

her, the blonde pointed to Sam and explained, "He fell

asleep."

"He probably just passed out," Toby muttered,

but no one took notice.

"Well, I guess he’s staying here tonight," Josh

announced with a sigh, gazing down at Sam’s face

tenderly.

CJ nodded in silent agreement, but she looked

extremely concerned as she watched Sam’s breath steadily

rise and fall as he was sprawled out with his arms

cushioning his head on Josh’s knees.

Donna offered to help Josh take Sam inside, but

Josh simply waved her away. He then proceeded to slip

his friend’s head off of his legs, placing one of his

arms around Sam’s shoulders for support. Getting up, he

hooked his other arm under the other man’s knees,

picking him up off the ground.

CJ, Toby, and Donna all turned to the Deputy

Chief of Staff in surprise.

"What?" Josh asked defensively. "I *do* work

out, you know."

"He’s lighter then he looks, isn’t he?" CJ said

seriously.

"Ha ha," Josh deadpanned, glaring at the red-

head.

"Need some help with the door?" Donna offered,

thwarting the impending blow-out between the two White

House staffers.

"Yeah," Josh admitted after a moment of trying

to find a way to open the door without disturbing his

burden.

Laughing, Donna walked up to the door and

attempted to open it for her boss. "It’s locked," she

informed the group.

"I’ve got the key in my pocked," Josh realized.

"Um..." blushing a bit, he asked, "Could you get it?"

Donna laughed and walked over to the brunette.

"Which side?"

"Left."

Donna continued to laugh as Josh shifted Sam in

his arms to allow her better access to his pocket.

As Donna was about to reach her hand in, the

Deputy Chief of Staff growled, "Just get in and get out."

"Remind me never to sleep with you," CJ called

from where she and Toby were watching in amusement.

"Oh, very funny," Josh returned sarcastically,

trying to ignore his assistant.

"Got it!" the blonde exclaimed triumphantly,

holding up a key.

"Finally," Josh muttered. "Now just open the

damned door!"

"All right, all right," Donna conceded, turning

the key in the knob of the door. A clicking sound was

heard and the door opened.

Immediately, Josh made his way into the living

room. Miraculously the couch was clear of papers, unlike

the rest of the room, and he was able to set Sam down.

As he removed his companion’s shoes, Donna entered the

room.

"CJ and Toby cleared up everything outside," she

informed the host. "And I brought in the extra beer and

what not."

Josh mumbled a thanks as he go up to place Sam’s

shoes with his own pairs.

"Do you need any help with him?" Donna asked,

following the brunette out of the room Sam was situated

in.

"No, no, he’s fine," Josh assured her.

"Are you sure?" the blonde continued. "He won’t

be happy about sleeping in his suit."

"Well, I have some sweats he can wear. I’ll just

wake him up and get him into them."

Donna raised an eyebrow at her companion. "He’s

not going to like being woken up, either."

"He won’t remember it by morning," Josh

reasoned, ushering his guest towards the front door.

"All right, suit yourself," Donna sighed, taking

her leave.

They wished each other a good night before Josh

closed, and then bolted up, the door.

"Finally," he muttered, heading into the kitchen.

There he found the remaining alcohol- three

bottles- from the evening he had spent with his friends.

Almost automatically Josh picked up one of the bottles

and opened it. Taking a seat at the small table, Josh

began to contemplate his situation as he drank.

Sam Seaborn, his best friend for years now, was

passed out on the couch in his living room. The

beautiful young man whom he had secretly lusted after

for so long was *right there,* and yet he couldn’t do

anything. Sam, as feminine as he sometimes seemed, was

not interested in men. Or, at least, he was not

interested in Joshua Lyman.

In a mannerism that was close to, but not as

extreme, as Sam’s had been earlier in the evening, Josh

downed the remaining two beers without thinking about

what he was doing. When he finished, he was thoroughly

drunk, as his previous "light" drinking only made

matters worse.

Finally Josh decided that he should turn in for

the night. First, though, he wanted to check up on Sam.

In his drunken fog, he vaguely remembered something

about sweats. It took him a moment, but the thirty-eight

year-old eventually remembered that he needed to get Sam

changed before doing anything else.

Before even heading back to the living room to

check on his charge, Josh made a quick stop in his

bedroom to grab the clothing for Sam. As he shuffled

around in one of his dresser drawers, Josh heard a noise

behind him. Turning around, Josh was surprised to see

Sam standing in his doorway, clothing rumpling and hair

wild; for Sam it was wild, anyway.

"Sam," Josh tried to say, but the alcohol was

making him slow, and he ended up only making a small

moaning sound. Deciding that he’d have to find another

way to communicate, the brunette walked over to where

the other man was standing.

"Josh," Sam whispered, he voice hoarse, but

better then Josh’s.

Josh was trying to think of an answer, but he

got swallowed up in Sam’s eyes. The deep blue orbs were

so full of emotion, so full of lust, so full of...

/Wait,/ Josh thought uncertainly as his mind

slowly began to backpedal and process the feelings he

was seeing in Sam’s eyes. /Lust? Sam’s looking at me

with *lust*?/

Before he could conjure up a question to figure

out what was going on, Sam was upon him, pressing their

lips together in a kiss filled with almost animal-like

passion. Years of feelings were behind that kiss, and

Josh quickly began to reciprocate with equal longing.

Though Josh felt as though his senses were

heightened in his state of intoxication, his mind was

moving slowly, as if surrounded by a thick fog. When he

finally realized what was going on, he was wearing only

his shorts and an undershirt; and Sam was merely an

eyeful of skin, wearing only his black, silk, boxers.

"Silk?" Josh managed to murmur between kisses.

Sam moaned something in return, but it was lost

in the depths of his companion’s mouth. Or perhaps it

wasn’t an answer at all, Josh couldn’t really tell, and

his body wasn’t letting his mind focus on such

unimportant details.

Everything quickly became unimportant as he

finally became aware that the man in his arms was *Sam

Seaborn.* Josh had been waiting so long for this moment,

for this chance to let his colleague know how he really

felt. Even without the alcohol it would have been

surreal to finally be in the position Josh was in now.

He wasn’t about to let his chance go to waste.

Just as Josh’s hands found their way to the

waistband of the younger man’s boxers, Sam stopped them.

Meeting his companion’s confused, if hazy, gaze,

Sam explained, "No. Not like this, Josh. Not when we’re-"

Josh swallowed his words with a kiss. So Sam

didn’t want to go down that road. By now, it didn’t

matter to the Deputy Chief of Staff. He would take

whatever he could get; just one kiss would have been

sufficient.

Suddenly, Josh was overcome with the urge to

hold Sam in his arms, simple as it was. He just wanted

to be able to hold the other man against him, feel his

warmth, his presence. He just wanted to know that Sam

was his.

Sam hesitated for less then a second when Josh

tugged on his arm to lead him to the bed. Josh slipped

under the covers and patted next to him so Sam would

follow suit. He did.

"I just want to hold you," Josh whispered,

soothing away his companion’s worries. Immediately Sam

warmed to him, snuggling close, coming to rest his head

against the older man’s chest.

Wrapping his one arm tightly around Sam, Josh

finally gave in to temptation and used his other hand to

gently brush through the thick, dark, strands of Sam’s

silky hair.

Josh’s relaxing touch was quickly putting his

companion to sleep. "Josh," Sam mumbled as he began to

drift off. "I love you."

"Love you, too," Josh whispered in reply,

placing a tender kiss on Sam’s forehead. When he leaned

back, the thirty-eight year-old’s kind face lit up in a

smile. Sam was asleep.

Josh took a deep breath and let his hand drop

from Sam’s hair to around the younger man’s waist.

Within moments, the steady breathing from his bedmate

and the soothing effects of the alcohol lulled Josh into

the most peaceful sleep that he had experienced in a

very long time.

~~~~

Josh could feel the sunlight on his eyes before

they were open. Immediately, the pounding began. After

rubbing his temples for a moment, the thirty-eight year-

old propped himself up on his elbows slightly. To his

surprise, he felt a considerable- physical- weight on

his chest.

Josh opened his eyes. His mouth quickly followed.

Samuel Norman Seaborn was draped across his

chest, topless.

Even as his mind told him to panic, Josh found

himself gazing at his bedmate. His eyes grazed over

every curve, each line of Sam’s muscular back; he

followed the gentle slope of Sam’s nose, the full

outline of his perfect lips; he marveled in the thick

eyelashes, the pronounced cheekbones, the soft, olive

skin...

Suddenly, Sam shifted in his sleep, his head

falling slightly to rest in the crook of Josh’s neck.

Even as he felt Sam’s eyelashes brush against his skin,

the shock began to wear off of Josh; or, perhaps it was

simply making him numb as reality began to set in: Josh

had to do something before Sam woke up.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

/The alarm!/ Josh realized, silently cursing. He

hadn’t even remembered setting it the night before.

Quickly, he reached out and turned it off.

Sam groaned, wrapping his arms tightly around

Josh, and moving to nuzzle gently against the older

man’s neck. He then muttered something about not waking

up and about sunlight being evil.

Josh froze. He didn’t know what to do; he wasn’t

sure how he was reacting to this ...predicament... much

less how Sam was going to take it.

Sighing, Josh raised one arm to rub at his

forehead. It wasn’t until then that he realized that his

other arm was still around Sam’s waist, holding the

younger man close to his chest.

Sam was nuzzling his neck again. "Mmm," he

murmured. "You smell good, Josh."

There was a brief moment of utter silence.

In a heartbeat, Sam jolted upright, the white

sheet of Josh’s bed lying across his waist, making him

appear as if he had no clothing on. Josh silently prayed

that wasn’t the case.

Immediately, Sam began to regret sitting up so

quickly. He let his head drop into his hands to try to

discourage all the blood from draining from it. Slowly,

Josh sat up as well, leaning against the headboard.

/At least I still have clothing on,/ Josh noted.

/That’s a good sign./

There was a long stretch of silence before Sam

carefully lifted his head to meet his companion’s eyes.

"Josh..." he whispered.

Josh felt his heart beginning to break. Sam

looked so small, so vulnerable, so fragile. Suddenly,

Josh realized something: Sam had no idea what had

happened. Unfortunately, neither did Josh.

"Sam, I’m sorry," Josh whispered back, his voice

sounding harsh to his own ears.

Sam’s face fell.

Josh took a deep, shuttering breath. It was even

worse now, the way Sam looked so broken and dejected.

"But," the brunette continued. "I honestly don’t know

what happened."

"I-" Sam began, but his voice caught. Looking

away, he admitted, "I don’t either."

Trying desperately to get rid of the look on

Sam’s beautiful face, Josh said, "Well, I’m still

dressed, so that’s a good sign. Plus, besides the

headache, I feel fine, so..."

The corners of Sam’s mouth turned up just the

tinniest bit. "I’m not sore either, so..."

After having both trailed off, both men looked

down at something, anything, that wasn’t the other

person.

"Well," Josh began, finally breaking the

silence. "The alarm went off, so we should probably get

up and get dressed. You have to go in at nine, right?"

The mention of work seemed to have woken

something within Sam, for he looked up and said in his

normal voice, "Yeah, Leo was being unusually nice for

some reason."

Pushing himself out of bed, Josh laughed a

little. "Not to everyone. Toby had to go in at five this

morning."

Sam winced. "Ouch. I hope he didn’t drink as

much as I did last night."

Josh, holding out his hand to pull Sam up,

paused a moment. Sam took the time to grasp his

companion’s hand. "Why *did* you drink so much last

night, Sam?"

Sam froze.

Once both men realized that they were still

holding hands, Josh abruptly pulled Sam out of the bed.

They both looked down to see what Sam was wearing.

Black boxers; silk.

A faint memory of hands tugging at the waistband

made Sam blush.

Josh, on the other hand, was remembering what

happened after that. "Sam," he whispered, looking off

into the distance as he tried to recall exactly what the

Deputy Director of Communications had said the night

before. "I don’t think we did much of anything."

Blushing deeper, Sam muttered, "I wouldn’t be so

sure."

"No," Josh pressed, finally moving to look into

his companion’s eyes. "You stopped us."

Sam looked immensely relieved. "Oh," he sighed.

"Oh, thank god."

Trying desperately to ignore the hurt that was

welling up inside him, Josh said quietly, "Yeah. Thank

god."

Apparently he hadn’t kept all of his pain out of

his voice because Sam’s head quickly snapped up to look

at his companion’s face. "Josh, I didn’t-" The raven-

haired thirty-one year-old began, his eyes, more than

his voice, filled with remorse. The look on Josh’s face

stopped him. "Josh," he finally said, looking up at his

companion with his gentle, apologetic eyes. "Are you all

right?"

Smiling just a bit, Josh replied, "Besides the

headache?"

Sam’s face remained full of concern. "That’s not

what I-"

Turning and walking away, Josh called over his

shoulder, "C’mon, Sam, if we don’t get ready soon, we’ll

never make it out of here on time."

Sam sighed and sat down on the bed tiredly.

Cradling his head in his hands, the thirty-one year-old

silently cursed himself for saying such an insensitive

thing. All he had meant was that he was glad that he and

Josh hadn’t slept together- when he couldn’t remember

it, that is.

Sam had long had an idea of how he wanted that

first time with Josh to be. Having both of them drunk

half-blind wasn’t really part of that dream.

Hearing someone knock on the front door, Sam

stood up and began to hunt around the room for his

clothing.

"Donna!" Josh exclaimed in surprise. When he had

opened the door, Donna was about the *last* person that

he had expected to see on the other side.

"Hi, Josh," the blonde said cheerfully. After a

moment, she frowned. "You’re not dressed yet."

"I had a long night," Josh growled. At the look

of surprise and hurt on Donna’s face, he sighed and said

tiredly, "I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you."

Immediately, a warm smile spread across the

blonde’s face. "It’s all right, Josh."

Changing the subject, the thirty-eight year-old

asked, "What brings you here so early in the day,

anyway?"

"I have your key," Donna explained. "And I was

going to give it to you at the office, but then I

thought, what if this is your only key? Then you

wouldn’t be able to lock your door. Maybe you would have

to use the spare, but then what if you lost it? You’d

never be able to get into your apartment again." She

paused. "Plus, I need a ride."

"You what?" Josh asked, trying to process all

that his assistant had thrown at him. It took a moment

for him to remember why his assistant would have a key

to his house. "Ooh, you just never gave it back," Josh

said, referring to the key.

"Well, you kicked me out so quickly, I didn’t

have a chance to," Donna retorted. "You really wanted to

be alone with Sam, didn’t you?"

Josh nearly said something *very* rude, but he

held his tongue. He *did,* however, manage to hiss,

"Nothing happened between me and Sam."

Naturally, Sam picked that moment to walk out of

Josh’s bedroom, still wearing nothing but his black,

silk boxers.

Donna’s mouth dropped open. Half the surprise

was the fact that Sam had just walked out of her boss’s

bedroom half-naked and the other half was just that she

had never seen Sam half-naked before.

Not noticing Donna, Sam asked, "Josh? Have you

seen my pants? I can’t seem to find them."

"Nothing happened, huh?" Donna muttered, looking

up at Josh skeptically.

Rubbing his temples, Josh replied, "No, Sam. I

haven’t seen them. Do you want to borrow some of mine?"

"They’ll be too long," Donna pointed out.

"Yeah, she’s right," Sam agreed.

"Here it comes," Josh sighed, putting his hands

on his hips and turning around.

"Holy- Donna!" Sam exclaimed, staring at the

blonde, his mouth open in shock.

"Good morning, Sam," Donna replied calmly; her

eyes, however, were twinkling with amusement.

"She still had my key from last night," Josh

explained, walking into the kitchen.

"Oh," Sam said, as if he understood.

Josh, of course knew better. "I had to carry you

in, so I couldn’t open the door, and it turned out that

it was locked, so I gave her my key," the Deputy Chief

of Staff clarified, opening his refrigerator. "She

didn’t give it back."

"You didn’t give me the chance!" Donna protested.

Sam, however, was caught on a different point.

"You carried me in?"

"Yeah," Josh replied, grabbing a carton of

orange juice.

"You carried me in?" Sam repeated.

"Yeah."

"I know, we were surprised too," Donna laughed.

"How much do you weigh, anyway, Sam?"

Ignoring her, Sam took a step towards Josh. "I

can’t believe you carried me in last night, Josh."

Smiling for the first time that day since he was still

half asleep, Sam whispered, "Thank you."

"It’s no problem, really," Josh insisted,

feeling a blush creeping into his cheeks.

/Nothing happened last night, huh?/ Donna though

warily. /Yeah, *right.*/

End


End file.
